What is a Job Family? Meaning and Example

Job families vs departments vs grades

A department is where people sit in the organization. A job family is what kind of work they do, regardless of department. An accountant in the plant finance team and an accountant at head office sit in different departments but belong to the same job family. A grade is the level, and it cuts across families. Together, a job family and a grade describe a role precisely: Finance and Accounts at grade E3 points to a senior accountant anywhere in the company.

Why companies use job families

Some companies also define job functions above families, such as Corporate Functions containing Finance, HR and Legal, and sub-families below them, such as Payroll within HR. Two levels are usually enough for a company of a few hundred people.

• Career paths: the steps from entry level to senior within a family
• Pay: salary bands that reflect the market for each type of work
• Training: the skills each level in the family needs
• Hiring: job descriptions and interview questions reused within the family
• Workforce planning: counting people by skill, not only by department

Building job families

List every role in the company and group roles by the core skill they need, not by the reporting line. Keep families broad enough to hold a real career path, typically four to seven levels, and avoid creating a family for every small team. Write a short description of each level with its typical designations and grades. Review the structure when the business adds new kinds of work, such as a data team or an online sales channel. Role descriptions are available in job roles.

Frequently asked questions